


A Second Chance

by Grocketeer



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Genre: 3000+ words, Kinda fluff, Major Spoilers, No Sex, Spoilers, don't read before seeing movie, for those who don't like tree/raccoon porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-11
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2018-02-12 16:36:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2117025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grocketeer/pseuds/Grocketeer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rocket finally realizes how he feels about Groot, but it's too late. Then he gets a second chance and he's sure as hell not going to waste it.</p><p>Pretty much made for people who are made uncomfortable by the more literal interpretations of this ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't mean to make it this long, it just kinda kept going and I didn't want to delete any parts. Seriously don't read before watching the movie, it will ruin a very important part.

Rocket doesn’t have a lot of time left. He knows it. When he was created, the scientists had told him that most of his race lived only a few years, but because of their “gift” to him, Rocket would live around 15 years. He hated them for it, but even he had to admit, the extra-long lifespan was one of the few benefits. But now it was running out.

He had met Groot when he was around 8 and had been with him for 2 years, almost 3. At 11, Rocket knew he would have to find a mate soon if he wanted to reproduce, but Rocket had given up on that hope a long time ago. There just wasn’t any other creature like him. Except for half-world, and there was no way Rocket was ever going back there. He would rather die.

But still, Rocket felt that need, that need for someone else in his life to be even more important to him than himself. Groot did mean more to him than himself, but whenever Rocket thought of him there was always something that Rocket kept suppressed. Groot was his friend and one of the only real ones Rocket had ever had and he didn’t want to mess that up. And yet, having a friend just wasn’t enough.  He needed someone to love, but even more importantly, Rocket needed someone to love him.

Then they met the Guardians. And somewhere around there, in the midst of their adventures running from and then attacking Ronan, Rocket realized that these people were his friends too. And something changed with his relationship with Groot. He didn’t know what it was, but because he had other friends now he didn’t keep that hidden feeling as suppressed as he always did when thinking of Groot.

Then came that final battle with Ronan and his fleet. Rocket had heard what was happening over the comm. He was not going to just let Groot and the rest of his friends die to Ronan. He immediately flew up to the Dark Aster hoping to get there in time to shoot through the glass and kill, or at the very least distract, Ronan.  But once Rocket was hovering next to the much larger ship, he realized it was too late for that. It would take too long to shoot through the reinforced glass. He knew there was only one way to save all his friends. So he did the only thing he could, took the last chance there was to take, and crashed into the Dark Aster. The last thought to go through his head before he passed out was that he hadn’t succeeded. He’d taken out the pilots along with Ronan and now the ship was going down, along with all of his friends. His last thought was that he had failed and doomed his friends.

He opened his eyes. He first was surprised that he could open his eyes, before realizing that the ceiling didn’t make sense. The Dark Aster was entirely black and unless Ronan had a secret interior decorating obsession, the brown and green ceiling didn’t make sense. Then he understood it wasn’t a ceiling. It was Groot. He also abruptly came to the realization that Quill was holding him with his disgusting humie hands that probably hadn’t been washed since he left Terra, but Rocket had more pressing concerns at the moment.

He knew Groot wouldn’t grow like this unless it was necessary. To grow his whole body that large required an enormous amount of energy. Groot would barely be able to walk afterward. Then Rocket remembered the rest of the situation and knew that Groot wasn’t planning on walking away at all. It was in that moment that he finally identified the feeling that he had kept suppressed all that time with Groot. But he didn’t have time to dwell on that right then. He couldn’t let Groot do this.

“What are you doing, idiot! You’ll die! Why?! Why are you doing this?” Rocket couldn’t think of anything besides the thought that he couldn’t let Groot do this. Not now. Not when he had just figured out what Groot meant to him.

But Groot didn’t listen to Rocket. Instead he had just said, “We are Groot.” But that wasn’t enough for Rocket. He didn’t care that Groot would live on through him, because that just wasn’t enough. Groot needed to live through Groot. Dying was not an option. And yet as they were plummeting to the ground, and Groot gently stroked his whiskers, Rocket couldn’t think of a single way to save them. Not without Groot dying.

That was the only thought he had as he gathered as many twigs of Groot from the ground as he could and huddled them all close to his chest. All he could think was that he couldn’t find a way to save Groot. It was his fault Groot was dead. Right after he had finally figured out what he really thought of Groot. What his relationship with the tree really was. It wasn’t a friendship. It wasn’t even a great friendship. It was so much more than that.

Rocket loved Groot.

He’d denied it for so long and now it was too late to tell Groot. It was his fault Groot was dead and it was his fault Groot had died not knowing that Rocket had loved him.

Then even that thought faded as he saw Ronan climb out of the ruins of the Dark Aster. Then there was nothing left, to walls to hold back the emotions, no thoughts to control himself, there was only red. That deep dark red he’d only seen once before; back when he was on the operating table under the scientists performing unspeakable acts on him, but the difference between then and now was that he couldn’t do anything then. He was still young and stupid, and besides all that, strapped down. Now was different.

He charged at Ronan, planning on scratching his eyes out and biting through his throat, but he never got there. With a jab of his war hammer, Ronan sent Rocket flying. He landed next to some rubble, thinking all hope was lost. Then he saw that he had everything he needed to make another weapon.

Quill distracted Ronan as Rocket made the weapon and gave it to Drax. Rocket then watched as Peter grabbed the stone and Gamora and Drax held onto Peter. Rocket knew that they couldn’t do it themselves, and now that Groot was gone, he had nothing left to lose, except the Guardians, so he grabbed onto Drax’s finger and felt the raw power instantly flow through him and over him, drowning out every other thing, until finally he felt it stop controlling him. Now the Guardians of the Galaxy controlled the stone. He took some small comfort in watching Quill obliterate Ronan, in that Groot’s real murderer was dead, but it didn’t really change anything.

Now as he sat there in the aftermath of the battle and clutched a single twig close to his chest, there was nothing to distract him, nothing left to do but mourn. He tried not to cry. He didn’t want the others to see how much Groot had meant to him, but soon there was nothing he could do. His whole body heaved with racking sobs. Drax came over and started to pet him, which usually would have resulted in a few missing fingers, but right then Rocket couldn’t even focus on that. All he could focus on was that Groot was gone.

\----

For the next few days, Rocket didn’t say much. He just humbly accepted the praise from the Xandarians, saying a few thank yous here and there, but none of it really mattered to him. The only thing that had ever really mattered to him was gone and left only a little twig in a pot as a reminder that he had ever existed. Without Groot, Rocket struggled to find a point in living. Rocket had loved Groot and Groot had been the point of Rocket’s life, at least to him. He drank himself to sleep those first nights, crying as quietly as possible, hoping the others wouldn’t hear him.

Peter, walking past Rocket’s room, heard the quiet sobs, and was going to let Rocket mourn in peace, but then he remembered when his mom had died, and all he had wished was for someone to be there for him, to comfort him, and he knew he couldn’t let Rocket go through this alone. He poked his head in the room.

“Hey Rocket?” he whispered, so as to not alert the others. There was only a sniff in reply as Rocket quickly tried to wipe away his tears. Peter turned the lights on and saw Rocket curled around the pot. He also tears under Rockets tightly shut eyes, but didn’t comment.

“It sucks, losing people we hold close. I know.” Peter sighed. “Everyone always says sorry, as if that’s gonna help. I know it seems like your world is ending.” Rocket sniffed again. “But, hey, it’s not.” Rocket opened his eyes a fraction.

“How do you know? Groot was my world.” Rocket whispered, his voice hoarse and trembling.

“Fine.” Peter didn’t let it show in his voice, but he was actually surprised at Rocket’s words. He had no idea that the raccoon had been that close with Groot. “Then don’t let his death be in vain. He sacrificed himself so you and I and Gamora and Drax could live. I know it sucks now and I know you need time to mourn, but live your life, don’t waste it! Not after Groot sacrificed everything to save it.” Peter didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but the words still rang true. He sighed and left Rocket to his liquor and tears.

It wasn’t until Rocket was sure Quill was gone that he gave his answer.

“I don’t want to live a life without Groot.”

\----

A few days later and they were getting ready to leave Xandar. Rocket had been drinking more and more every night, and he was still a little hung over, so he was glad to leave the loud crowds of Xandar. They stopped by Nova Prime’s office and then got onto the ship. Rocket looked down and could barely believe his own eyes. There in his lap the twig that was his only reminder of Groot, had sprouted arms and a face. Rocket wanted to cry and shout and do anything and everything he could to express his joy, but he didn’t do anything of that. He just stared down at little Groot, with a little smile, and all he could think was “I have another chance.”

\----

Rocket watched Groot all day, hoping for some alone time with him to talk. At this point Groot’s voice was light, quiet and weak, but he could still talk and that was enough for Rocket. But throughout the whole day he was with the rest of the group and never had a chance to get Groot alone. They had made several enemies by killing Ronan so they had agreed that someone would keep watch when the others went to sleep. Rocket was chosen for the first watch, though he grumbled and complained as much as he could. When Drax came to relieve him, he raced back to his quarters where he had left Groot, but the small sapling was already dozing peacefully and Rocket couldn’t bring himself to wake him. So he just climbed into bed and watched Groot sleeping as he fell asleep himself. It was the first night since Groot had died that he had fallen asleep without assistance from alcohol.

Rocket woke up to Gamora shaking him awake.

“Alright, I’m awake, I’m awake, what do you want?” he asked drowsily.

“It’s time for breakfast.” Gamora said.

“Good I’m hungry.” Rocket said, although he was secretly annoyed he didn’t have time to talk to Groot.

“Did you not wake up at all last night?” Gamora asked incredulously, as Rocket picked up Groot.

“No…Why would I?”

“We were attacked!” Gamora exclaimed.

“What! When?”

“In the middle of the night. Peter and I were awoken by the blasts and Peter outmaneuvered them and blew up their engine. We all thought you had woken and just stayed to protect Groot.” Gamora looked at Rocket and Groot as they walked out to the main room of Quill’s ship where Drax and Peter were almost done eating. “How did you manage to sleep through that?”

“Well I haven’t exactly been getting the best sleep lately.” Rocket said quietly yet fiercely, as if daring the others to ask why.

“I am Groot?” came the quiet voice from between Rockets hands.

Rocket smiled down at Groot. “Yeah, buddy I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

Peter cleared his throat, not wanting things to get too emotional in the cramped space. “Well, anyway, one of our thrusters was damaged so we’re all going to have to chip in to have it fixed.”

Rocket snorted. “Fuck that I’m not wasting money on something I can fix myself. Just drop us down on the nearest inhabited planet and I’ll fix it.”

Peter looked down and smiled to himself. He knew Rocket wouldn’t want to spend any money.

\----

“Well it’s gonna take me a few hours to fix. You guys go to a bar or something; I’ll have Groot here to keep me company.” Rocket hoped no one would hear the desperate note in his voice to have some alone time with Groot.

“Sounds like a good idea to me. Let’s go guys. We’ll be back soon.” Peter and the others left.

Rocket looked at Groot. His growth was visible and it had only been a day. Rocket guessed it would be less than two weeks before he was back to full size, but Rocket felt that Groot was expending too much energy in the hopes of helping the group on missions and such.

“Groot, buddy, you’re growing awfully fast, don’t you think?” Rocket asked as he slid under the ship.

“I am Groot.” _I’m growing as fast as I can. Why?_

Rocket sighed. He definitely wanted to tell Groot how he felt, but that didn’t make it any less awkward.

“Well… It’s just that I… I care about you.” Rocket made sure not to look at Groot and stared at the ship, not even paying attention to what he was doing. “I care for you.” Rocket hoped that would be enough and Groot would understand. He hoped he wouldn’t have to state it outright. He’d never been comfortable expressing any emotion other than anger, and definitely not through anything resembling words or talking.

“I am Groot.” _I care for you too._

Rocket was hit with a wave of tears. He was careful to keep staring straight up at the bottom of Quill’s ship. “I didn’t even know until you… When you were… gone, I realized…” Rocket sighed. He couldn’t think of any way to say it without actually saying the words.

“I am Groot?” _What are you saying?_ Rocket still wasn’t looking at Groot, but if he had he would have seen that the small tree was looking down at the soil in his pot, as if he was embarrassed.

“Groot, I… I love you.” Rocket finally summoned the courage to look at Groot, his eyes still watery. He slid out from under the ship and stared at Groot, waiting for a reply. He was surprised to see Groot look up with a slightly green face, Groot’s form of blushing.

“I am Groot.” _I love you, too._

Rocket got up and walked over to Groot, who stared up at him from his pot with his eyes full of care. Rocket wordlessly bent down and picked up the pot, holding it close. He felt Groot’s tiny arms around his neck and put his head down next to Groot so Groot could hear him as he whispered the words again in a voice as quiet as the wind,

“I love you.”

As he pulled away from Groot and set him on the ground, Rocket just watched Groot’s face. But then an expression of intense fear crossed Groot’s face and Rocket realized Groot wasn’t looking at him, but above him and a little behind him. Rocket was in the midst of turning when he felt a sharp stabbing pain on the back of his head and then in his stomach and back as his attacker kicked him with enough force to send him flying back into the ship.

As his vision and his other senses slowly faded, the last thing he heard was a voice, much deeper than it should have been shouting,

“I… AM…. GROOOOT!”

\-----

Rocket slowly became conscious of voices around him. Most of them sounded pleading, but one kept repeating the same words over and over, stubbornly and protectively. Eventually Rocket could make out what they were saying.

“We can’t just leave him here in his bed! Please, we should get him to a doctor. Or a vet. I don’t know, someone qualified to deal with talking animals.”

At that Rocket tried to growl and open his eyes, but the sudden light caused incredible throbbing pain in his head and the growl faded to a whimper. He immediately felt a large shape over him as smooth vines started to creep over his body, ever so lightly.

“I am Groot?” _Are you okay?_

Rocket almost frowned, realizing the voice was not the same as the weak quiet voice he had heard from the pot yesterday, and it didn’t make sense that Groot was above and around him. He started to open his eyes, much slower this time, and saw Groot’s large brown eyes directly above him, full of care. He realized he hadn’t given an answer.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied, but his weak and quivering voice gave him away. He hurt all over. His head hurt the most, but also his back, where he had hit the ship, and his stomach and chest hurt. His attackers must have kicked him a few times while he was down. At least, until Groot stopped them. Then Rocket remembered that Groot shouldn’t have been able to stop them.

“Groot! What in the flark are you doing out of your pot?! Get back in there this instant and get back down to normal size! You know you’re going to get sick if you don’ grow normally!” Rocket wondered how he knew that information himself, but at the moment was too worried to care if it was true.

“I am Groot” _I’m not leaving until you are better._

“I’m fine Groot. Anyway, you’re not doing me much good sitting here. Get back in your pot!” Rocket regretted the words instantly and even more after seeing the hurt in Groot’s eyes. Groot hated that he didn’t know more about Rocket’s species or how to help Rocket with the pain.

Quill’s voice interrupted their arguing. “Well, about that, Groot kind of was focused on something else at the time, and his old pot is pretty much destroyed.”

“Well go buy a new one. And while you’re at it, get some medicine for this headache. It’s killing me.” Rocket tried to roll over, hoping to end the conversation, but the pain in his stomach and side stopped him and he whimpered again.

“Quill, you better get that medicine quickly. I’ve never heard of pain so strong it could kill someone, but then again, he is quite small.” Drax, however misunderstanding, was clearly worried about Rocket. Peter just sighed and left. Rocket growled, unsuccessfully trying to dismiss his tiredness. He didn’t need or want their pity. He’d be fine once he got some sleep. It was Groot they should be worried about. That was the last thought on his mind before he finally succumbed to his fatigue.

\---

When he woke up the first thing he noticed was that Groot was normal-sized and  back in his pot and sitting on Rocket’s nightstand. Next to him was a cup of water and a bottle of pills. Not bothering to read how many to take Rocket threw a few into his mouth and swallowed. Groot looked over at the movement and Rocket saw that the worry was still in his eyes.

“I am Groot?” _Are you sure you’re okay?_

“Yeah I’ll be fine. As long as you’re here with me I’ll always be okay. I love you Groot. Thanks for beating up those guys for me. Why did they attack us anyway?” Rocket pulled Groot’s pot onto his bed as he was talking.

“I am Groot.” _I love you too._

Rocket sighed. He could tell Groot wasn’t telling him something. “What’s wrong man, did you find out why they attacked us?”

“I am Groot” _Money._

“Well then what aren’t you telling me?”

“I am Groot” Groot’s voice was quiet and almost embarrassed as he explained that he didn’t hurt or beat up those guys, he had killed them because they’d attacked Rocket. As he was talking he grew gentle thorns on the ends of his hands and started running them through Rocket’s fur, straightening it and getting rid of the tangled and matted parts. Rocket tensed at first, having never felt this before, but then he let it continue, as he curled around the pot and set his head down. Groot finally repeated his phrase the same as he had earlier telling Rocket once again,

_I love you._

Rocket smiled as he felt his eyes start to close. He’d finally found what he was looking for and it had been with him the whole time. His only wish was that he had seen it sooner.

 

 


End file.
